03 — Paid Media

Media strategy and planning

Decide where the money goes, before it goes

Most budgets get split by habit. Some on Google because everyone does Google, some on Meta because someone mentioned it, and no particular reason behind either number.

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What this actually is

A media plan is the document that replaces that. It starts from your numbers: what a customer is worth, what margin you keep, how long people take to decide, and what you can afford to pay to acquire one. Everything else follows from there.

Then channels. Search catches people already looking. Social creates demand among people who weren't. Which mix suits you depends on whether your category has existing search demand at all — and for some businesses the honest answer is that paid media isn't the first thing they should be spending on.

You end up with a written plan: channels, budget split, what each one is expected to do, what you'll measure, and what would make us change course. It's yours whether or not we run the campaigns.

What it covers

Unit economics

What a customer is worth, what margin survives, and therefore what you can afford to pay to acquire one. Every other decision in the plan follows from this, and it's the step most budgets skip entirely.

Channel selection

Search catches people already looking. Social creates demand among people who weren't. Which mix suits you depends on whether meaningful search demand exists in your category at all, and sometimes it doesn't.

Budget allocation

How the money splits, with a stated expectation for each channel rather than a round number chosen because it felt about right.

Measurement plan

What counts as success, how it will be tracked, and which numbers we've agreed to ignore. Deciding this before spend starts prevents the retroactive metric-picking that makes every campaign look fine.

Change triggers

The specific results that would tell us the plan is wrong, written down in advance. It's much easier to agree those before anyone is emotionally invested in the plan working.

A document you keep

The plan is yours whether or not we run the media. If you take it to another agency, it still works.

What you get

01Unit economics worked through — what a customer can cost you
02Channel recommendation with the reasoning written down
03Budget split with expected outcomes per channel
04The measurement plan, agreed before spend
05Milestones that would tell us to change course
06A document you own and can take anywhere

How it runs

Step 1

Numbers

Margins, customer value and sales cycle. Everything starts here.
Step 2

Channels

Where your customers actually are, and what each channel realistically does.
Step 3

Plan

Written, with budgets, expectations and the points at which we'd change our minds.

What it costs

How it's pricedFixed project fee

A one-off fee, and we credit it against your first month if you go on to run the media with us. If you take the plan elsewhere, it's still yours.

We don't publish a number for this one, because an honest one depends on the job. Tell us what you're trying to do and you'll get a real figure, in writing, without a sales call first.

Get a figure in writing

Is this right for you?

Probably, if

You're about to start spending and want a reason behind the split
You're spending already and can't explain why the budget is shaped that way
You're weighing paid media against other things you could do with the money

Probably not, if

Your budget is small enough that the planning fee is a meaningful share of it. In that case just start on one channel and we'll tell you which.

Questions we get asked

Do I have to run the campaigns with you?

No. It's a standalone piece of work and the plan is yours. We credit the fee if you do continue with us, which we think is the fair way round.

How long does it take?

Usually one to two weeks, most of which is us getting your numbers straight.

What if the answer is that I shouldn't advertise?

Then that's what the plan will say. It's happened before. We'd rather tell you that than take a retainer for something that won't work.

Works well with

All 16 services

Tell us what you're trying to do

No pitch deck, no discovery call you have to sit through. Describe the problem and we'll tell you whether this is the right service for it — including when it isn't.

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